JedDiamond

Why Messy Is the New Neat

Author of Male Menopause and Irritable Male Syndrome.  Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com I’ve spent my life trying to be neater, and failing at every turn.  From the time I was born my room was a mess.  It didn’t get cleaner when my mother scolded me when I was 10.  It didn’t get cleaner when my wife gave me those deadly looks when I was 26.  And it’s just as messy as it has ever been now that I’m 63.  What hasn’t changed either is that I feel bad about my messiness.  I refuse to let close friends visit because I’m afraid they’ll look into my room.  I admit it.  I’m ashamed of the mess.  At least I was until today. More…

The Five Secrets of True Love

Author of Male Menopause.  Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com and learn more about love, life, and relationships. If you’re like me, this time of year is a mixed blessing.  It focuses our attention on romance, love, and intimacy, but it also reminds us how we fall short of having all that we want.  I have been counseling men and women for the last 42 years.  There are many concerns people bring, but most of them are related to their desire to have a relationship where they can feel loved and where they can share their love.  As someone who has been married three times (third time was definitely the charm for Carlin and me), I’m always looking for ways to improve our relationship and share our insights with others.  Here’s what I’m learning these days. More…

Do You Have a Male-Type Brain or a Female-Type Brain? You May Be Surprised

Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com.  Sign-up for our free e-newsletter.  Learn the latest information about men and relationships. The first couple of lines grabbed my attention.  “The subject of essential sex differences in the mind is clearly very delicate.  I could tiptoe around it, but my guess is that you would like the theory of the book stated plainly.  So here it is:  The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy.  The male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems.”  What's your brain type.  Take the Quiz here.  Thus begins Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen’s book The Essential Difference:  The Truth About the Male and Female Brain.  But what I learned after reading the whole book, totally blew my mind. More…

Boomer Doom: Falling Victim to the Culture of Youth

Author of Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome.  Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com.  Thanks to all my readers for your terrific responses. We often associate the Boomer Generation with youth, vigor, and health.  However, as America's baby boomers approach senior status, a troubling number are dying from causes that have marked the generation since the 1960s--drug abuse, suicide and accidents. A new analysis by Scripps Howard News Service of death records for more than 304,000 boomers who died in 2003 shows the legacies of early and lingering drug use, a tendency toward depression at all stages of life and a stubborn determination to embrace youthful risk-taking.   All of these problems contribute to more deaths from drugs, suicides and accidents than we have seen in previous aging generations.  Having just gotten out of the hospital and recovering from a blood clot caused by my trying to lift weights like a 20 year-old these issues are particularly important to me. More…

Is Male Menopause Real?

Author of Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome. Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com “You’re a guy in your late 50s. You’ve just awakened and are looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror—as you do every morning. Only today you notice for the first time what must have been there for a while: the love handles, the once bulging pecs that now sort of sag. It gets you thinking.” These are the opening lines of an article in this week’s (January 15, 2007) Newsweek. The cover story is Understanding Menopause and the view of the 50-Something women and the 50-Something men couldn’t be more different. More…

If I Were Leading This Country…Things Would Be Different

Author of The Irritable Male Syndrome and Male Menopause. Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com Those who follow my weekly posts know that I write primarily about men, male health, and relationships. For me, I can’t separate the personal from the political. Who we are as individuals--as men or women--what our wounds have been, how our healing has progressed, how we see the world; all these things influence the political realm. In recent posts I have raised questions that have drawn a good deal of response. In Why We Should Ban Voting Machines, I talked about how easy it is to steal elections using these modern technologies. In Is It Time to Impeach President Bush? I raised the issue of whether we should remove those who are presently leading our country. More…

Is It Time to Impeach President Bush?

Author of Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome.  Please visit me at www.MenAlive.com I’ve had mixed feelings about whether I should put my efforts toward impeachment of President Bush or hope the new Congress will help create a different direction for the country. It seems to me that the President and his closest associates have acted in ways that have caused tremendous damage to the country and the world.  I believe he should be held accountable and his future actions curtailed.  On the other hand, there are so many other important things that need to be done in the world.  Maybe we can afford to wait and hope the Bush-Cheney regime will just fade away. More…

An Easy Way to Lose Weight in 2007

Author of Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome.  Personal questions or comments?  Drop me a note at Jed@MenAlive.com or visit my websites at www.MenAlive.com or www.TheIrritableMale.com As we approach the New Year many of us are planning to lose weight.  We’re feeling the effects of our over-indulgence between Thanksgiving and New Years and the way the pounds seem to slip on so much easier than they slip off as we get older.  There are times we just want to forget about our weight and eat whatever we want.  “Hey, I’ve lived this long carrying a few extra pounds, why not enjoy my life.”  On the other hand, we don’t like the feeling we have as our waist lines expand and we can’t ignore the health warnings we hear about weighing too much. More…

When Oprah Speaks I Listen: Stop Global Warming

Author of Surviving Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome.  Please visit me at www.MenAlive.com I admit it.  I’m an unabashed Oprah fan.  I’ve watched her program for many years and have always found her to be honest, passionate, personal, and practical.  When my daughter turned 21 I offered to take her anywhere in the country she would like to go.  After much thought she told me, “I’d like to go to Chicago and meet Oprah.”  It was an event that made a lasting impact on my daughter, Angela, and on me as well.  Recently, Oprah invited Al Gore to discuss his movie An Inconvenient Truth.  Oprah says we need to stop Global Warming if our world and the world of our children and grandchildren are going to be livable.    More…

Are You Feeling Stressed? Fix It With Food

Author of Male Menopause and The Irritable Male Syndrome.  Come visit me at www.MenAlive.com or www.TheIrritableMale.com and email me if you have questions:  Jed@Menalive.com Although we sing songs this time of year about peace on earth and good will toward men, we often feel stressed.  From Halloween until New Year we are rushing to get things done.  In nature, this is a time when everything slows down.  Animals find cozy places to hibernate or burrow.  Leaves fall and growing things get ready for a winter’s slumber.   While the rest of nature quiets down, humans speed up.  It’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed.  Many people deal with stress by taking pills or drinking alcoholic beverages.  I suggest you can fix it with food.  Here’s how. More…